The Lotte Scholarship Foundation (Chairwoman Jang Hye-sun) held the “Shin Geuk-ho Lotte L-Bridge Scholarship Award Ceremony” on Thursday, March 31, at the Kyowon Tour Concert Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and announced that it would award a total of 270 million won in L-Bridge scholarships to 100 scholarship recipients this year.

 

 

The Shin Geuk-ho Lotte L-Bridge Scholarship is a scholarship program that supports teenagers in low-income families and out-of-school teenagers who are facing challenges in their education and growth. It helps them develop into talented individuals who can practice the value of sharing, explore and discover their talents, and plan and carry out mentoring activities within their local communities that utilize their talents.

 

The 100 Elbridge scholarship recipients selected this year have been conducting various mentoring activities since April, targeting elementary and middle school students at local children's centers. These activities include not only basic subjects such as mathematics and English but also cooking, ukulele, and Nanta, among others, tailored to the recipients' individual talents.

 

 

The Elbridge Scholarship is awarded to scholarship recipients who participate in mentoring activities for at least three times a month, one hour and 30 minutes per week. Scholarship recipients who meet the mentoring activity criteria receive a monthly living expense scholarship of 300,000 won per person. The scholarship recipients' mentoring activities will continue for a total of nine months until December this year.

 

The award ceremony held on the 31st was attended by approximately 60 people, including Elbridge scholarship recipients and teachers from local children's centers.

 

 

Jang Hye-seon, chairperson of the Lotte Scholarship Foundation, was unable to attend the award ceremony due to health reasons, but through Lee Chan-seok, secretary-general, she conveyed her message: “This is a project that we have been preparing for a long time, and we consider it very important to visit the site in person, so we really wanted to attend the award ceremony. However, due to poor health, we are unable to meet you all in person today, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

 

Jang emphasized the purpose of the program, saying, “When we interact with scholarship recipients, we have a responsibility to not only provide them with financial support but also to guide them in the direction they should take in life. The Shin Kyung-ho Lotte L-Bridge program is not just about distributing scholarships; it is about working together with you to consider the direction you should take in life.”

 

She continued, “I believe that one of the most important things in life is ‘experience.’ The experiences you will gain through L-Bridge are by no means insignificant, and there is great value in having such experiences at a young age.”

 

She also said, “Even experiences that you may think are small will become valuable experiences that will help you in many ways in your life as time passes. I hope that you will participate with a sense of mission so that the diverse and wonderful qualities that each of you possess will be well conveyed to the children you are teaching.”

 

 

Following the award ceremony, the Elbridge scholarship recipients performed alongside the students they had mentored. The event featured performances showcasing the skills they had honed over time, including ukulele, nanta, and clarinet. This was followed by an opera performance by Kim Jun-seo, a tenor and recipient of the Artist Independence Support Scholarship, and a song performance by foundation staff members, bringing the Elbridge x Lotte Scholarship Foundation concert to a close.

 

 

『 The L-Bridge Scholarship, whose name combines the “L” from ‘Lotte’ and “bridge,” which means “connection,” was launched in 2020 and has provided a total of 1.3 billion won in scholarships to 610 scholarship recipients as of last year. 』

 

 

The Lotte Scholarship Foundation stated, “Through this program, teenagers who were once recipients of education have become mentors themselves over the past nine months, strengthening their positive self-perception and naturally developing communication skills, responsibility, and leadership abilities. We will continue to provide growth opportunities through the L-Bridge Scholarship to empower teenagers to become active contributors to creating a virtuous cycle within their communities.”

 

 

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